Horseshoe Bend National Military Park
Visiting Horseshoe Bend National Military Park | Flagg Mountain | Cheaha State Park, Alabama to JP Coleman State Park, Mississippi | January 2023
We woke up on the highest peak in Alabama to arguably one of the colder mornings we’ve camped through in recent memory. Frost on the tent, frost on the car, and all the condensed moisture of two people and a dog frozen to the inside of the fly – we should look into how to stop that. I was able to muster myself out of the warm tent before sunrise and took Charlotte down the summit road to a break in the trees where we watched a colorful sunrise.
Well chilled, both Charlotte and I returned to the tent and snuggled with Jess until the sun had time to raise the mercury a few degrees. But for all the frozen that we felt, the Park Rangers (or probably more accurately the owners of the TV tower) decided that there was no longer a risk of falling ice on the summit, and as we cleaned up camp, the rangers drove by and cleared the cones: it was now sanctioned for us to reach the summit.
After the car was all packed up the three of us walked the 100 yards up to the top of Alabama where we found, to our great surprise, that not only was the summit open, but the tower was as well! We climbed the spiral staircase of the old CCC tower and enjoyed what views there were (the TV towers block the good view along the ridge to the Southwest). After we were finished here, we returned to the car and began our very roundabout drive out of Alabama.
In our impromptu planned trip through Alabama, I picked several of the sites that I was familiar with and then researched the several other Alabama NPS sites. Since the straight drive would have been only 3 hours or so, and since every single county we got today would be new, we started our drive by heading South off the mountain to the Tallapoosa River and Horseshoe Bend NHP.
This park, which neither of us had known about until two days before, commemorates the final battle of the Creek War – a component of Tecumseh’s ‘rebellion’ which itself was part of the greater War of 1812. During that time, the Muscogee people (called Creek by the English) lived primarily in present day Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee as neighbors of the Cherokee.
By 1813, a civil war had broke out among the Muscogee people. Among the ‘Upper Creek’, some were inspired by the words of Tecumseh and sought to impose more traditionalist values and strongly opposed the encroachments made by white settlers. This was opposed by the many in the ‘Lower Creek’, who, having lived closer to the settlers, intermarried, and adopted some of their culture, proposed a more moderate appeasement plan. Because of the use of war clubs by the first party, the two factions became known as Red Sticks and White Sticks. The British and Spanish eventually started supporting the Red Sticks in an effort to further destabilize the US control of the area.
The civil war eventually clashed with settlers and militia in the Mississippi territories. This lead to additional militia armies from Georgia and Tennessee to be formed to subdue the Red Sticks, fighting battles throughout most of 1813. The Tennessee army, led by Colonel Andrew Jackson, entered into Creek Territory at the end of 1813, Jackson primarily fought against supply issues and army politics while cutting his way through the wilderness. But in March 1814, Jackson managed to locate and surround a Red Stick village located and entrenched on a bend of the Tallapoosa River.
Jackson split his army in two: half of the army, including some Cherokee and White Stick auxiliaries, surrounded the bend on the outside bank. But, without boats, their role was primarily to prevent the escape of the Red Sticks. The other half of the army was to attack the defenses along the neck of the bend directly. Jackson himself admitted that the Red Stick’s defensive position was well conceived and was forced to charge the defenses directly. Even with artillery support, the Tennesseans were having a rough time. But, several Cherokee warriors, disgruntled at not being in the fight, swam across the river and stole several canoes, permitting the river guard to cross the river and attack the Red Sticks undefended rear.
And so the Red Sticks fell, and the movement was suppressed almost completely, ending the Creek War. To solidify his victory, Jackson had ALL members of the Muscogee sign away huge portions of their land, irrespective of if they were Red Sticks or not – a move that rewarded Jackson with a commission as a Major General. Jackson would then go on to attack Pensacola in Spanish Florida for harboring Red Stick refugees and British soldiers – which placed him in the right place at the right time to save New Orleans at the close of the War of 1812. Further rewarded for those actions, Jackson would then become president, and in 1830 he would advocate for and sign the Indian Removal Act – sending all of his Muscogee and Cherokee allies and enemies along the Trail of Tears.
We took the auto tour around the park, avoiding the large crowds of Army National Guard members on a field trip. There really isn’t much to see except an open field and maybe two monuments, but we still really appreciate these types of parks and placing the history – however depressing and disappointing – into perspective.
Horseshoe Bend thus marked the furthest South we would make it on this trip and we began the trip Northwest. Still a ways South of Birmingham, we turned off of the main highway and into the rolling hills that make up the tail end of the Appalachians, eventually finding our way into the State Forest and Flagg Mountain. Flagg Mountain is the southernmost peak in the Appalachian mountains over 1000′ in elevation – and while it doesn’t have the full 300 meters of prominence I need for my goal, it does have enough to give decent views.
More impressive though is the CCC tower at the top. It’s clear that the local caretaker (a fairly famous long distance backpacker and conservationist – Nimblewill Nomad) has been taking great care of the area. We hiked the new paved path to the peak, climbed the tower, and enjoyed the warmth that was so lacking that morning.
And from here, we got onto the interstate and drove North, then Northwest without stopping. There’s some other NPS sites in the Birmingham area, but the sun sets early this time of year, and there’s always another time. We crossed into Mississippi at the same place we had crossed into Alabama last year and then traveled a bit further North to J. P. Coleman State Park along the Tennessee River. We paid way too much for a ‘primitive site’ on a 25* incline, but it was a quiet night, and we know that if no one shows interest in primitive sites every now and then, they’ll all just turn into full hook-up RV spots.
